Parrot Reorganizing Drone Business, Reducing Workforce

As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, Parrot has reported revenues of around EUR 85 million, which is below its target of around EUR 100 million, as announced at the end of November. In turn, as part of its new strategy to rebalance its finances, the company is altering its drone business.

According to Parrot, revenues for its automotive business came to around EUR 23 million, which was in line with expectations. On the other hand, drones generated revenues of around EUR 60 million euros; approximately EUR 11 million and EUR 49 million were for commercial and consumer drones, respectively.

Notably, says Parrot, the performance for consumer drones in the fourth quarter would be insufficient to deliver profitable growth for this business over the medium and long term.

For its consumer drone segment, the company plans to redeploy its product offerings but focus more on commercial applications. Because its commercial drone business has continued to develop, the company plans to invest more in this sector.

In addition, Parrot is also planning to reduce the workforce in its drone business by approximately 290 people (out of a total of 840 current staff).

These reductions would concern employees both in France and internationally. However, in France, approximately 150 positions would be eliminated, says Parrot.

Parrot says its drone strategy is still in line with its strategy announced at the time of its capital increase at the end of 2015: developing an original positioning on the consumer segment, ramping up its business in the commercial segment, and aiming to build up a global and profitable market share in the civil drone sector.

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